‘To see thee more clearly, day by day.'
Maggi Dawn guides us through the season of Lent.
1. Stones into bread
The tempter said to Jesus, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread.’ But he answered, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”’ (Matthew 4:1–4)
Throughout the scriptures, ’40 days’ symbolises a time of preparation and transformation. During his 40-day fast in the wilderness, Jesus faced the temptations that come to anyone involved in ministry or public service. The fact he was tempted shows that he was truly human – not just God in a human costume, but real flesh and blood. It hurt when he got a splinter, he knew what it was like to grieve for a friend, and when his friends let him down it was as devastating for him as it is for you and me. And this first temptation concerned the basic physical need for food. His reply to that temptation, ‘One does not live by bread alone’ is a reminder that we are physical beings, but also more than merely physical.
Christian belief continues to claim that life has meaning and purpose that extend beyond the purely physical and material, but at the same time, we cannot transcend our humanity. We are not spirits clothed inconveniently in bodies; we are bodily creatures. The early Christians rejected as heresy the idea that the spirit was superior to, and separate from, the body. Jesus, through His incarnation, demonstrates the wholeness and unity of human existence.
Jesus, in a moment of extreme hunger, refused to use his spiritual power to overcome his physical being. And, in a culture that is both overindulgent and excessively body-conscious, perhaps we too need to learn that body, soul, mind, and spirit are not meant to be put in competition with each other, but lovingly and respectfully held together. Our spiritual journey includes learning to be comfortable in our own skin.
2. 'You feed them.'
This weekend is the fourth Sunday in Lent. This was traditionally celebrated as ‘Refreshment Sunday’. In the medieval world, all fasting was temporarily suspended, the streets came to life with mid-Lent fairs, as the Church celebrated the anniversary of one of the most famous feasts ever: the feeding of the 5,000.
Huge crowds followed Jesus into the wilderness and as the day wore on, they grew more hungry and tired by the hour. You can imagine the disciples’ anxiety; along with their concern for the needs of thousands of hungry people, they must also have been aware they could have a crowd-control problem on their hands. So they turned to Jesus, doubtless hoping he would come up with an appropriate miracle. This was the man who had turned water into wine: surely a picnic in the desert wasn’t beyond him! But intriguingly, his reply was, ‘You feed them. You give them something to eat.’
Often in retelling this story we focus on how Jesus saved the day by blessing and multiplying the food – how he did perform the miracle they were hoping for! But pause for a moment and consider this detail: His message to the disciples – 'you feed them' – seems to draw them into the knowledge that they were not there merely to observe His ministry, but actively to become a part of it.
Teresa of Ávila famously wrote, ‘Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world.’ So, whenever we are concerned with the needs of the world, let’s remember Jesus’ words: ‘You feed them.’ All we have to do is make a start: that’s when the miracles start to happen.
The Rev’d Professor Maggi Dawn is a priest in the Episcopal Church (USA) and a professor of theology, having taught at Cambridge and Durham in the UK, and Yale University in the USA. She is the author of five books, including Giving It Up, a series of daily readings from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday.
